From the New World to the new iPhone, the freshest and newest inventions, discoveries, and fads have always loomed large in the public mind. In Next Big Thing, paradigm-shifting events, such as the spread of ethical monotheism and the invention of the printing press, stand beside such cultural ephemera as the aborted U.S metric campaign and the misbegotten vogue for smart drinks. Each entry features the historical context of that Next Big Thing as well as an overview of its legacy, including photos, sidebars, trivia, and quotes.